updated 03:10 pm EDT, Mon August 19, 2013

Steps into territory dominated by Amazon, Netflix

Barnes & Noble is releasing iOS, Android, Nook, and Roku apps for its Nook Video service, according to an announcement. The apps let people watch movies and TV shows that they've rented or bought from the service, as well as items in a person's UltraViolet collection. In the case of the mobile apps, videos can be downloaded for offline viewing; when a video is streamed, though, progress is automatically synced between devices.

The apps put Barnes & Noble into more direct competition with rivals like Netflix, Redbox, and more specifically Amazon. Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are marketing their video services mostly at shoppers of existing online stores, and encouraging people to watch the video through in-house tablets.